THE DOWER HOUSE NEWSLETTER
Welcome to The Dower House’s May Newsletter.
With springs arrival, I thought it would be nice to have a spring poem for us all
to enjoy:
Spring Poem
Hush, can you hear it?
The rustling in the grass,
Bringing you the welcome news
Winter's day is past.
Soft, can you feel it?
The warm caressing breeze,
Telling you the sticky buds
Are bursting on the trees.
Look, can you see them?
The primrose in the lane,
Now you must believe it Spring is here again.
May Activities
Tuesday, 2nd May – Keep Fit with Lorraine in the drawing room
Wednesday, 3rd May – Amanda Prideaux with a talk on the Winchester
Samaritans
Thursday, 4th May – Anytime Club Quiz with Carol
Tuesday, 09th May – Keep Fit with Lorraine in the drawing room
Wednesday, 10th May – Trip to Longstock Park Nursery
Thursday, 11th May – Holy Communion with Rev. Tim Selwood in the
drawing room
Tuesday, 16th May - Keep Fit with Lorraine in the drawing room
Wednesday, 17th May – Piano Recital with Maya in the drawing room
Thursday, 18th May – Mah Jong taster session everyone welcome
Tuesday, 23rd May – Keep Fit with Lorraine in the drawing room
Wednesday, 24th May – Anytime Club Film – second part of The Life of
Mammals
Tuesday, 30th May – Keep Fit with Lorraine in the drawing room
This Month Film:
The Life of Mammals – David Attenborough
"The Life of Mammals" brings us nose-to-nose with mammals in
all of their beauty and immense variety. Renowned naturalist,
writer, and filmmaker David Attenborough treks across every
continent and kind of terrain to introduce us to such unusual and
evolutionarily successful creatures as the Patagonian opossum,
the Canadian pygmy shrew, the Alpine marmot, and the
Malaysian sun bear. We meet slow-moving algae-covered sloths.
We enter a pack of African wild dogs, seeing how their division
of labour enables them to provide protection and food to pups, mothers, and the
old.
Mrs Ponsonby and I will be running a Mah Jong taster session on the
Thursday, 18th May 2017 all residents are welcome.
Memories of Mah Jong
I played my first game of Mah Jong in 1958.
My husband and I were due to spend 3 years in Jakarta (capital of Indonesia).
In those days Jakarta was hot, dirty and uncomfortable. The heat and humidity
were extremely high; there was no air conditioning and often no electricity!
A Dutch friend suggested I join a group of ladies who played Mah Jong. I knew
a little about the game as I have lived in India. Bridge and Mah Jong were
games most women played. I found it absorbing and have played on and off
ever since.
What appeals to me is, first of all it is non-competitive though some try and
make it so. There are many varieties of Mah Jong, I prefer the simplest
version.
The game itself is very old and a Chinese invention. Anyone from 8 to 80 (and
beyond) can enjoy this fascinating game.
Mah Jong is very similar to Rummy the card game, with the winner being the
first player to declare a Mah Jong (hand consisting of 4 sets and a pair, here’s an
example:)
A set can be a pung (3 identical tiles) or a chow (a run of 3 tiles in the same
suit), though only one of these is allowed.
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May in the garden
By now the risk of frost is becoming increasingly remote and the longer warmer
evenings are definitely with us. May is the month full of life with an explosion
of green in the trees and hedges, cow parsley running rampant along road sides
and chalk streams bubbling with trout feeding on mayfly. My favourite time of
year.
In the last month the garden has really sprung in to life, the pots full of colour,
blossom on the trees and the pond teeming with tadpoles. The fish are
responding to being fed from the bridge so they are now easy to see and enjoy.
There is also a nest box on the Poplar by the pond that the blue tits are nesting
in; pass quietly by and you may see them flying in and out.
Over the next month Terry and I will be busy with general maintenance and
planting up the stream bank and adding new plants and trees to the grounds. At
the end of May I will be collecting three hanging baskets ready planted and
ready to display.
Editor’s notes
If anyone would like to contribute any articles to the monthly newsletter I would
be delighted to receive them.
Philippa Thompson
General Manager
Quiz
1. Which is California’s largest City?
2. What is used to top a Lancashire hotpot?
3. Which famous explorer first climbed Mount Everest in 1953?
4. Which rising young star from the movie “Rebel without a
cause” died in an automobile accident in 1955?
5. What type of nuts is used in the production of
Marzipan?
6. In which country does Rioja wine originate?
7. What was the name of the circular plastic 1950’s toy
that was placed around the waist and operated by gyrating the
hips?
8. What do people wear in Remembrance Day in memory who
have died at war?
9. Released in January 1956, what was Elvis
Presley‘s first hit record?
10. What type of animals are flying foxes?
11.What is the name of Japanese dish of
thinly sliced meat or fish that is served
without rice?
12.What name is given to the fruit of the
Blackthorn Bush?
13.Name the song “a-wop bop a-loo bop a-lop bam boom”?
14.Which 1954 movie starring Marlon Brando, won eight Oscars?
15.What name is given to the home of a mole?
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Answers:
1. Los Angeles
2. Sliced Potato’s
3. Edmund Hillary
4. James Dean
5. Almonds
6. Spain
7. Hula Hoop
8. Poppies
9. Heartbreak Hotel
10. Bats
11. Sashimi
12. Sloe
13. Tutti Frutti
14. On the Waterfront
15. A Fortress